MetaMask Triggers Crypto Community Over User Data Collection Move: 'No Factor More Important Than Consumer Privacy'

The cryptocurrency community is not pleased with MetaMask’s decision to collect users’ IP addresses and Ethereum ETH/USD wallet addresses during on-chain transactions.

What Happened: According to a revised privacy policy agreement published by ConsenSys on Nov. 23, when you use Infura as your default RPC provider in MetaMask, it will collect your IP address and your Ethereum wallet address when you send a transaction.

Consensys may disclose this information to its affiliates, or to meet Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering requirements mandated by law enforcement,

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MetaMask currently has more than 21 million active monthly users, making it one of the most popular self-custody wallets.

Dan Finlay, co-founder of MetaMask said the company is working to get this fixed soon. “We are not using IP addresses even if they are being temporarily stored, which they don't need to be, as we're not using them for anything,” he tweeted.

Crypto enthusiasts have reacted negatively to the news.

Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, said: “There is no factor more important than consumer privacy when it comes to financial data—you should be able to keep your identity anonymous. Metamask has provided a free service for a long time, but logging IP addresses and connecting them to transactions is unacceptable.”

According to Hayden Adams, Uniswap protocol's creator, the decentralized exchange does not track IPs nor does it allow third-party tools to do so. “Uniswap prevents your IP address from being tracked by third-party APIs like Infura and trm using a proxy server,” he said.

Price Action: ETH is trading at $1,188, down 1.24% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
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